A 60-YEAR-old indigenous
woman and her daughter faced a makeshift Palm Island court yesterday
charged over their alleged role in the destruction of a police station and
courthouse in the north Queensland Aboriginal community.

The
hearing comes as pressure mounts for the release of findings from a second
autopsy conducted on the body of Cameron Doomadgee, 36, whose death in
police custody on November 19 sparked attacks on police by a large group
of Palm Island locals a week later.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable KC Smith said Agnes Wotton Snr and
her daughter Fleur, 30, had been charged as "rioters demolishing
buildings", but yesterday both women signalled their intention to fight
the accusations during a brief hearing in a school building.

Outside court Ms Wotton said she had no criminal record and had not
considered the possibility she might be jailed if found guilty of the
charges.

She said the accusations were false but she was more hopeful that
mainland Queenslanders would start to understand the problems Aboriginal
communities were facing.

"People will know the truth by being around and witnessing how this
community is functioning now," Ms Wotton said.

"The main thing is that people understand this is about a death in
custody and the problems we've had for so long – the lack of jobs and poor
paying jobs for young people.

"If they are not working they get bored so some go out hunting, others
do other things.

"Things here are very expensive so when you walk into the Retail Store
with a hundred dollars you might walk out with a couple of bags. A lot of
these things go on over the years and no one is listening. It takes its
toll in people's lives."

Ms Wotton also said she was deeply upset over the fate of 19 other Palm
Islanders, including her son, who have been charged with offences relating
to the riots and banned from returning to the island under strict bail
conditions.

"They are not a big threat to the community," she said.

"This is their home, this is the festive season and I want them back
for Christmas. This is very unusual that they would stop these men coming
home to their families. If they were non-indigenous people I don't think
they would be stopped from coming home."

Both the Palm Island council and the family of Cameron Doomadgee
yesterday expressed concern that the results of an independent autopsy had
still not been released.

An initial autopsy found that Doomadgee's injuries were consistent with
police claims that he had fallen during a struggle with police before he
died. The results of that autopsy outraged locals.

Doomadgee's sister, Liz, yesterday said she had contacted authorities
and requested the results.

"Yes I spoke to them and they told me that we won't get them until next
year, maybe January," she said before taking her gravely sick mother to
hospital.

Palm Island mayor Erykah Kyle said the council wanted to know why the
results were taking so long. "What are they doing?" Ms Kyle said. "This is
for the sake of the family. It is beside the point how people react. It is
the family's right, they deserve to know the truth. I know how I would
feel."